60% of urban African-American children can’t swim, survey says

I teach swimming lessons in the city of Milwaukee.
They are $30 for two weeks as opposed to about $100 at the YMCA or over $200 for a private facility like Swimtastic.
Also, if you receive free or reduced lunch the lessons are $20.
My question is, when do we start blaming the actual people who don't teach their kids how to swim, and stop blaming everyone else.
MPS made the head of aquatics about 6 years ago go out into the neighborhoods on the north side of Milwaukee and give out free swim towels and swim suits.
Did that get more black kids into the swim program?
Nope

Here is a stupid comment in the article:
Henning and other community leaders cited the lack of swimming facilities near central city neighborhoods as a key reason for the gap. Some wading pools have been closed because of low attendance and budget cuts.

Number one:
MPS recreation has as many or more pools open on the north side as the south side.
Two:
Wading pools do not teach anyone how to swim...SWIM CLASS teaches kids how to swim.

Something else I found interesting:
In order to enroll in sailing lessons, younger children are required to swim 25 yards and older ones must swim at least 75.

I have 6 year olds who can swim 60 yards.

Make sure you look at the picture that goes with this article. If you notice, the child in the picture is wearing a floating device. Anyone who comes from YMCA classes tells us that instructors spend a few minutes with the kids, put on the floating device and the kids just float around the rest of the time. I'm sure all instructors do not do that, but paying a kid at best $8 an hour is not going to get the best instructors all of the time. I have never put one of those things on any of my students. If there is a mandate that all black kids have to walk around with those things all the time, then maybe I'll reconsider.

So, black kids in the city of Milwaukee have fantastic swimming facilities, great instructors and the cheapest prices in town, yet most swim classes are not full.
We have another article talking about all these people doing all this work begging black parents to get their kids into swimming lessons.
Maybe this approach is not working, wouldn't you say?
Maybe a constant message from all leaders in the inner city questioning these parents ability AS parents and challenging them to do what is right ON THEIR OWN for a change might work.
It might not work, but these tactics of looking for the reasons there are program after program after program in every area, every facit of life, everything handed to people for next to nothing...and there is no one there to take advantage of it.
I guess the reason is that these people are poor...that seems to be the only thing certain people can come up with.